Folding door construction



Feb. 10, 1970 D. R. D'ERCOLE 3,494,408

FOLDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 20, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 :3 //5 f'p 7" *1 E1 INVENTOR 14 3 6 K45 I /4 DANTE R. DERCOLE BY FIG. 3

I ,airhmmzmm ATTORNEYS Feb. 10, 1970 o. a. DERCOLE FOLDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 20. 1968 7 l WT FIG. 4

1 w MN 1 u n k T U l .hlflllflv P IT z W b INVENTOR DANTE R. D'ERCOLE BY 3%;flomad023fihnd2g ATTORNEYS Feb. 10, 1970 D. R. D'ERCOLE 08 FOLDING DOOR CONSTRUCT ION Filed Nov. 20. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 auwgmr INYENTOR FIG 9 6/ WILAYNTE R. DERCOLE fiwgwmmfi ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,494,408 FOLDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION Dante R. DErcole, 168 Cabot St., Newton, Mass. 02158 Filed Nov. 20, 1968, Ser. No. 777,239 Int. Cl. E05d /26 US. Cl. 160-206 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A folding door construction including first and second vertical door panels in the same plane hinged together edge to edge and disposed in a door frame with one edge of the first panel hinged to one side of the frame so that the panels can be folded toward each other and simultaneously swung forward out of the frame from closed position to an open position. There is means forming a stationary downwardly open substantially horizontal track disposed in the upper door frame member and extending along the tops of the panels and guide means mounted at the top of the second panel adjacent its free, unhinged edge. The guide means includes a slide supported by the second panel for longitudinal movement parallel to the top of the second panel towards and away from its free edge, a guide member extending vertically upwardly from the outer end of the slide into the track and resilient means for urging the slide in a direction towards the free edge of the second panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a folding door construction which can be quickly and economically installed in a door frame with a hidden upper track.

While numerous attempts have been made to provide folding doors to close a door opening they are either expensive to manufacture or install, involve movable tracks, are difficult to operate, are noisy in operation, do not afford access to the entire opening when open, or an unsightly gap is left between the door frame and the edge of the door panel which is pivotally supported by the door frame when the door panels are closed.

One object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved combination folding door and guide means therefor wherein a smooth, easy and quick action is effected both during opening and closing movements thereof.

Another object is to provide an improved folding door and guide means wherein the panels of the door when moved to open position are disposed substantially wholly to one side of the door opening at right angles to the plane of the opening and also are disposed wholly outside of the opening.

A further object is to provide a folding door and guide means wherein the guide means includes resilient means which assists the user in the initial stages of opening the doors.

A further object is to provide a folding door construction in which at least one door panel is secured to a side door frame member by butt hinges whereby there is no unsightly gap between the edge of that panel and the frame member when the doors are closed.

Still further objects are to provide such a folding door and guide means construction which is economical to manufacture and to install.

BRIEF SUMMARY OFTHE INVENTION A folding door construction according to this invention includes first and second vertical door panels in the same plane hinged together edge to edge and adapted to be disposed in a door frame with one edge of the first panel "Ice hinged to one side of the frame so that the panels can be folded toward each other and simultaneously swung forward out of the frame from closed position to open position at one side of the doorway at right angles to the plane of the opening and disposed substantially wholly to one side of and outside of the opening. It also includes means forming a stationary downwardly open substantially horizontal track adapted to be disposed in the upper door frame member and extending along the tops of the door panels when they are in closed position. Furthermore, it includes guide means mounted at the top of the second panel adjacent its free, unhinged edge. The guide means includes a slide supported by the second panel for longitudinal movement parallel to the top of the second panel towards and away from said free unhinged edge, a guide member extending vertically upwardly from the outer end of said slide into said track and resilient means for urging said slide in a direction towards the free edge of the second panel.

Stop means for engagement either with one end of the slide or with the guide member is provided so that when the panels are swung to closed position the slide is moved longitudinally in a direction towards the hinged edge of the second panel against the force exerted by the resilient means.

When the doors are opened by means of a knob which is provided on the second panel, the resilient means acting against the slide assists in the initial movement of the doors to open position. Furthermore, because the slide is extended by the resilient means when the panels are in fully open position, both the first and second panels assume positions at right angles to the plane of the door opening.

The resilient means may consist of a coiled compression spring extending coaxially from the inner end of the slide with one end abutting the inner end of the slide or a coiled compression spring disposed with its axis parallel to the axis of the slide and with one end abutting an exterior member of the slide or, in case of heavy doors, it may consist of two or more coil springs acting against the slide with their axes parallel to each other.

Preferably the stop means is made of rubber or other resilient material to eliminate noise when the doors are moved to fully closed position.

Preferably the outer edge of the first panel is hinged to the adjacent side of the door frame by butt hinges thereby preventing the presence of a. gap when the doors are in closed position. Preferably the first and second panels are hinged together edge to edge by butt hinges which are disposed at the rear of the panels so they are concealed from view when the doors are closed.

Other features and advantages will appear hereinafter from a consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation with parts broken away showing an embodiment which consists of two door panels;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is top plan view with parts broken away showing one side of one door panel, with the slide in fullyextended position;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 55 of FIG. 1; the open positions of the door panels being shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 6 is a section like FIG. 5 but showing the positions of the slide and door panels during an initial opening stage;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation with parts broken away showing a front elevation of an embodiment which consists of four door panels;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged section taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7 but with the right hand roller removed; and

FIG. 9 is a vertical section taken on the line 9-9 of FIG. 8 showing in section a stop fixture which may be used in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 6 and/ or FIGS. 7 and 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the door opening is formed by the top and side frame members 10, 11 and 12. First and second door panels 13 and 14 are hinged together edge to edge by butt hinges 15. The first door panel is hinged to the frame member 11 by butt hinges 16.

A knob 17 is provided about midway of the height of panel 14. A stop 18 is provided at the rear and near the top of panel 13 to prevent the panels from coming together in open positions as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5.

A downwardly open, inverted U-shaped track 20 is provided in the top frame member 10.

Guide means for the panels, indicated generally by the numeral 21, comprises a cover plate 22, lower housing member 23 and a slide 24.

A vertical post 26 is attached near the free end of the slide and it has an enlarged neck portion 27 and enlarged head 28.

The roller 29 is rotatably mounted on the post between the neck and head portions 27 and 28. This roller may be made of nylon or other suitable material.

The slide 24 is mounted for longitudinal movement in the chamber 30 which is formed between the cover plate 22 and the lower housing member 23.

A coiled compression spring 32 located in this chamber extends coaxially from the inner end of the slide. One end of this spring abuts said end of the slide and the other end abuts the end wall 33 of the housing as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The spring 32 urges the slide 24 to its extended position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

A pin 35 is attached near the inner end of the slide and it extends downwardly through a longitudinal slot 36 formed in the partition 37 into the lower chamber 38 of the housing. This pin engages the end of the slot to stop the outward longitudinal movement of the slide.

With heavy doors, a second spring may be necessary. This may be provided by a second compression spring 39 located in the lower chamber 38 with one end abutting the lower end of the pin 35 as shown in FIG. 4. If desired a washer may be interposed between the pin and adjacent end of the spring. This spring is inserted by means of a screw threaded plug 40 against which the other end of the spring abuts in the completely assembled condition as shown in FIG. 4.

The roller 29 is positioned in the track 20 when the panels are fully installed in the door opening. Such installation is economical and easy because before the housing 22, 23 is installed in the panel 14, the panels 13 and 14 are secured together by the hinges 15 and the panel 13 is secured to the frame member 11 by the hinges 16. Then the roller 29 is inserted in the track and the housing 22, 23 is installed in the top of the panel 14 by the screws 44 (FIGS. 3 and 4). The pins 45 merely serve as guides to facilitate positioning the cover plate 22 on the lower housing member 23.

While it is not essential to the invention in its broad aspect, I prefer to use resilient stop means for engagement with either the outer end of the slide 24 or the roller 29 when the panels are moved to fully close position. This prevents marring of the door frame members and noise which otherwise occurs as the slide or the roller engage the frame members during the final closing operation.

As depicted in FIG. 4, the outer end of the slide is spaced inwardly from the periphery of the roller. Shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is astop fixture which may be installed near the left hand end of the track as shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6 to provide a resilient stop for engagement with the roller 29 as the doors approach closed position. It consists of a rigid angle member 50 provided with a central longitudinal slot 51 to receive a screw 52. The resilient elements 53a and 53b are secured to the downwardly extending flange of the angle member 50 in any suitable way such as by bonding or by the enlarged headed rivet-like rubber element 54 which extends through a central orifice in the flange. The elements 53a, 53b and 54 may be made of rubber, synthetic rubber or other resilient material. With this embodiment, the roller engages one enlarged head of the rivet 54 when the panel 14 approaches closed position and remains in engagement with it until the knob 17 is pulled outwardly folding the panel 14 outwardly far enough so that the slide is fully extended and roller begins to traverse the track from left to right looking at FIGS. 1, 5 and 7.

The periphery of the roller may be spaced inwardly from the outer end of the slide, in which event the end of the slide will contact the frame member 12 when the panels approach closed position. With such a construction an element similar to the element shown in FIG. 9 but with the member 50 straight rather than flanged and the head 54a and element 53b omitted may be installed in frame member 12 to serve as a resilient stop.

If desired, the enlarged head 54a may be omitted or both the elements 53a and 53b may be omitted for use in the two panel embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 6.

In use, the knob 17 is pulled outwardly by the user. The resilient means acting aginst the end of the slide causes the roller 29 acting against the stop 54 to urge the edge of panel 14 away from the frame member 12 and thus assists the user during the initial stages of the opening process.

Thereafter the roller 29 traverses the track 10 and guides the edge of the panel 14 until the stop 18 engages the rear surface of the panel 14 when the panels reach their fully open positions and are stopped as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. To close the doors, the knob 17 is pulled upthe user and the roller 29 traverses the track in the opposite direction until it engages the stop 54 and then the slide 24 is caused to move into the chamber 30 compressing the spring 32 or both the springs 32 and 39 if two springs are used.

During both opening and closing, a smooth, easy and quick action occurs.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 differs from that shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 in that two additional panels 60 and 61 are provided so as to close the wider opening formed by the door frame members 10a, 11a and 12a.

In this embodiment, a stop fixture having resilient stop means on each side, such as the fixture shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is installed in the center of the longer track 20a since a second roller 29a and associated slide and housing are installed at the top of the panel 61.

The operation of this embodiment is the same as the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 6 except that the user must pull both the knobs 17 and 17a outwardly during opening and push them inwardly during closing the panels.

I claim:

1. A folding door construction comprising in combination:

first and second vertical door panels in the same plane hinged together edge to edge and disposed in a door frame having upper and side frame members, the top faces of said panels being substantially horizontal and located closely adjacent to the bottom face of said upper door frame member and one edge of the first panel being hinged to one of the side frame members so that the panels can be folded toward each other and simultaneously swung forward out of the door frame from closed position to an open position,

means forming a stationary downwardly open substantially horizontal track disposed in said upper door frame member extending along the top faces of the panels, and

means for guiding the door panels throughout their opening and closing movements comprising,

housing means mounted near the top of the second panel adjacent its free, unhinged edge and concealed from view when the second panel is viewed from the front,

a slide supported by said housing for longitudinal movement towards and away from the free edge of said second panel and below and parallel to the top face thereof,

a guide member comprising a shaft extending vertically upwardly from the outer end of said slide, guide means pivotally mounted on said shaft and located in said track, and resilient means in said housing for urging said slide in a direction towards said free edge of said second panel when said panels are in closed position, and

means for engaging the means which forms the outer end of said guide member, said means for engaging being positioned in one of said upper frame member and said adjacent side frame member and substantially concealed from view when the panels are viewed from the front,

whereby when the panels are closed said housing,.said slide and said means for engaging are substantially concealed when the door construction is viewed from the front.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said slide includes stop means for engagement with said housing to arrest the outward movement of the slide by said resilient means, said stop means being inoperative when said means which forms the outer end of said guide member is in engagement with said means for engaging,

whereby when the panels are swung from closed toward open positions said resilient means causes said means which forms the outer end of said guide member to exert force against said means for engaging and assists the user in the initial stages of opening the panels.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said means for engaging is mounted in said track at a position which is adjacent said free edge of the second panel in closed position.

4. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said means for engaging comprises a portion of the side door frame member which is adjacent the means which forms the outer end of said guide member when the panels are swung to closed position.

5. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said one edge of the first panel is hinged to one side of the frame member by butt hinges and said first and second panels are hinged together edge to edge by butt hinges.

6. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said guide means is a roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,063,605 6/1913 Scarborough 160-206 1,768,267 6/ 1930 Phillips 160206 X 1,773,634 8/ 1930 Schneider 160-206 X 3,124,848 3/1964 Wheeler et a1. 16-85 X 3,144,077 8/1964 Dickinson et a1. 160118 X 3,378,058 4/1968 Matyas 160-1 18 3,428,109 2/1969 Kirby 160-206 FOREIGN PATENTS 352,949 9/ 1937 Italy.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. l-1 18 

